Brief Answer: In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, neither bishops nor any other ecclesiastical leaders—nor missionaries— are paid for their services.

Detailed Answer: In his first general epistle, Peter reminded the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ that there was to be no paid ministry: “The elders which are among you I exhort [to] feed the flock of God . . . not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind” (1 Peter 5:1–2). Paul echoed the same warning in his letter to Timothy, noting that bishops and deacons were to be “not greedy of filthy lucre” (1 Timothy 3:1–8). And to Titus, Paul wrote: “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God . . . not given to filthy lucre” (Titus 1:7). (more…)

Mormon Beliefs: Living Frugally, Being Prepared, and Avoiding Debt

Living frugally is not a strictly Mormon belief or concept, but it is one that is heavily stressed and taught within the Mormon culture and is included in several instructional books for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called the Mormon church by friends of other faiths). Members who follow the advice and counsel of church leadership to live frugally are often considered thrifty and prepared.

A big part of frugal living is emergency preparedness, and there are often seminars, classes, and activities dedicated to learning how to prepare 72-hour kits and food storage. Such preparedness offers peace-of-mind should there ever be a natural disaster, and we believe it is also an important part of preparing for the second coming of Jesus Christ. However, this isn’t the only benefit. Such preparations leave members prepared to handle smaller personal “disasters” such as facing unemployment in these hard economic times. My parents went through a short period in which my father was unemployed between jobs, and they became heavily reliant on their year supply of food storage. (more…)

Priesthood of Jesus Christ

Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) believe in the importance of being “called of God, as was Aaron” before one can ‘hold’ or ‘bear’ the priesthood of God.

The “Mormon” priesthood, a casual designation for the appropriate name, the priesthood of God, or the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood, restored in our day is the ability or right to act in God’s name. Performing the ordinances (or, sacraments) of salvation must be done by those who have the priesthood. Unlike most of our Creedal Christian brothers & sisters, we have a lay ministry, and are not paid for performance of these ordinances. (more…)

Mormons Not FLDS

The simple answer is ‘no’.

The historically informed and more complete answer is ‘yes, there is a historical connection’. Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) do not share many of the beliefs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) Church, though there are a few that are shared.Both churches believe in the concept of “continuing revelation” — that the heavens are not closed, and that prophets do in reality live today, in our time, and speak for God to all mankind. Both churches also believe that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and as such is scripture. This is why FLDS members still consider themselves “Mormons”, which the LDS Church disputes. (more…)

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and serves as the Ward Mission Leader in the Annapolis, Maryland Ward.

The General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes inadvertently called the “Mormon Church”) is held during the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October each year. As the Church was founded in April 1830, the April conference is referred to as the Annual General Conference of the Church, whereas the October conference is referred to as the Semiannual General Conference of the Church. The next sessions of General Conference will be held on Saturday, 31 March 2012, and Sunday, 1 April 2012. This will be the 182nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints. The number of the conference refers to the number of years since the founding of the Church.

General Conference has been held in Salt Lake City, Utah since 1848 with the exception of the April 1877 Conference which was held in St. George, Utah; in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square before 2000 and in the LDS Conference Center after that. Historically, General Conference was over three days with the Annual Conference always including April 6. However, this proved awkward when April 6 fell midweek, as this made conference difficult to attend for those with work and school commitments. In April 1977, during Prophet Spencer W. Kimball‘s Presidency, General Conference was reduced to two days, Saturday and Sunday. (more…)

This website is not owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. For the official Church websites, please visit LDS.org or Mormon.org.